Hijexx wrote:
] Decius wrote:
]
] ] Sinclair's statement on their decision to cancel the Koppel
] ] broadcast. I meme this because I prefer raw arguement to a
] ] journalist's summary thereof. Reach your own conclusions. [ In support of Decius' call, here's the post I made on the initial story memed on this topic by Acidus : http://www.memestreams.net/thread/bid12512/blogid4004079 ] I think his statement is reasonable. As the owner of these
] stations it is Sinclair's choice to make. In the sense that all companies have the right to choose how to run their business, this is correct, and I can't necessarily offer a legal challenge to what they did, but as I tried to convey in my post, I believe they have an ethical obligation that should be paramount in their decision making process. ] I agree that ABC is going to use this to send a message. It
] is no coincidence that they are broadcasting this on the eve
] of the anniversary of the end of "major combat operations."
] That the insurgency happened this month and the news of
] coalition torture of Iraqis is hitting will only serve to
] soften where ABC was going to put the dagger anyway. I have
] no doubt this was planned for April 30th for a long time. It's incredibly disturbing that soldier's sacrifices are used to political ends, by both sides of the debate, but they simply are. The right, the obligation i think, for the public to truly understand the costs of war outweigh the concerns of the relatively few. I don't believe enough people get it... they hear about soldiers dying and insurgency and they turn off their minds, or else the reports become an everyday background noise, which ceases to be meaningful in any way. Senator John McCain offered specific words about that in his letter to Sinclair (here: http://mccain.senate.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=NewsCenter.ViewPressRelease&Content_id=1276) :
every American has a responsibility to understand fully the terrible costs of war and the extraordinary sacrifices it requires of those brave men and women who volunteer to defend the rest of us; lest we ever forget or grow insensitive to how grave a decision it is for our government to order Americans into combat. It is a solemn responsibility of elected officials to accept responsibility for our decision and its consequences, and, with those who disseminate the news, to ensure that Americans are fully informed of those consequences.
McCain, of course, was before and remains now an ardent supporter of the Iraq war. Also, I'd like to point out that I don't believe Sinclair's decision was altruistic at it's heart, though I'm not so cynical as to believe this was purely partisan. Publicly denying this show is just as political as ABC deciding to air it, and the execs know that full well. They're playing the same game. I'll leave by addressing one mo... [ Read More (0.2k in body) ] | 
